The American League Central Division has been the home for some of the best off-the-field action this winter with perhaps the biggest splash in December within the division was the Chicago White Sox trading for third baseman Todd Frazier from the Cincinnati Reds.
So let’s start this Central Division roundup discussing the move that could propel the White Sox toward the top of the division.
Chicago White Sox
As I’ve written before, any team that has lefty pitchers Chris Sale and Carlos Rodon, and power hitting 1B/DH Jose Abreu should have a solid foundation on which to build.
The White Sox addressed one of their biggest needs with the Frazier trade. They receive a 30-year-old right-handed hitting third baseman in his prime who has lots of power. He’s also under team control for the next two years so if he’s only on the squad for a year or two there is no long-term commitment to a big contract.
Also picked up was second baseman Brett Lawrie, who was traded by the Oakland Athletics to the Chicago for minor league players Zack Erwin and Jeffrey Wendelken.
This move also greatly helps the White Sox as Lawrie, 25, can play third base to give Frazier a day off in the field or serve as the designated hitter. That may help keep both players healthier while significantly improving the middle of the lineup and giving Abreu some much needed protection. Look out for the middle of this lineup.
Where the team still needs a bit of help is to add another quality right-handed starter who is capable as serving toward the top of the rotation and some middle relief help. The closer situation is in the capable hands of David Robertson.
Overall, the White Sox should be a division contender in 2016 after a disappointing 2015 season.
Cleveland Indians
The Tribe was in the mix for the services of Frazier, but in the end the Indians didn’t want to part with their young controllable starters or closer Cody Allen. I don’t blame them for being realistic and hesitant to part with their talent to make a move when the price of dominant starting pitching on the free agent market involves around $200 million in contract commitments.
Sure, having Frazier for the next two years would have been great and would have filled a big need as Giovanny Urshela hasn’t yet solidified himself as a Major League player, but the cost to do so by weakening the Major League roster just didn’t seem to be worth it to the front office.
Instead, the Indians made some solid acquisitions in the free agent market by picking up outfielder Rajai Davis and first baseman Mike Napoli. Davis earned a 1-year deal at $5.25 million, which isn’t a huge cost or commitment. He should help in left field until Michael Brantley comes back and then move over to center or right as he is capable of playing all three outfield positions.
Napoli, who reportedly signed a 1-year deal for $7 million guaranteed with additional money included for reaching incentives, will serve as the primary first baseman, who on the field will be an upgrade from Carlos Santana. The shifts Santana over to the primary designated hitter and occasionally playing at first. Adding Napoli provides power to the lineup, so it will be interesting to see if Manager Terry Francona will put him in the cleanup spot and move Santana to fifth or lower. I’m not a fan of putting Santana higher in the order despite his ability to draw walks, because he has little speed and is more of a station-to-station base runner that requires multiple hits for him to score.
Another significant move the Tribe made in December was to designate infielder Chris Johnson for assignment. I really have to applaud the team management and ownership in this case for not keeping a lesser player on the roster simply because he makes a larger sum of cash. This hasn’t always been the case Tribe fans, so you have to tip your cap to the front office and the Dolans for their willingness to pay $17.5 million for nothing in return to actually do what was best for the team on the field.
My hunch is the Indians are done with any additional major moves. What they have done so far makes sense, but I’m wondering if the team will have enough to counter what some of their division rivals have done.
Kansas City Royals
Whether outfielder Alex Gordon is resigned by the club most likely remains to be the biggest question for the Royals at this point.
If Gordon goes free, then the defending World Series champions will have some holes to fill in their outfield as the option of outfielder Alex Rios was not picked up for 2016. Because Gordon declined his qualifying offer from the Royals, he would cost his new team a draft pick to acquire his services and that might not work perfectly in his favor resulting in teams unwilling to sign him due to the compensation involved. So my hunch is a deal with Gordon will eventually get done, it’s just a matter of for how much and for how long. The tricky part is guys really want to get paid nicely after winning it all.
Starter Johnny Cueto is gone to the Giants so that leaves a hole to fill in the rotation, although he only pitched for the Royals down the stretch and wasn’t exactly the most effective. Starter Chris Young was resigned for two years with a team option for 2018, and that could prove once again to be a smart move for the Royals.
Again it might not matter too much how the Royals start games, but rather how they finish and they added Joakim Soria to the mix of Wade Davis, Kelvin Herrera and Luke Hochevar to comprise one of the most dominating bullpen in the majors. The future still looks good in Kansas City.
Minnesota Twins
The Twins made their splash of the off-season when they signed Korean first baseman Byung Ho Park on December 1. He will probably hit 25 or so home runs and have some power, but he also might strike out 200 times if given enough plate appearances.
Since then, the Twins have signed a number of lower-level free agents to minor league contracts and given them invitations to spring training. Unless Minnesota does something unexpected, the team will likely hope that Joe Mauer can return to form and hit over .300 especially because he’s a lifetime .312 hitter. Mauer also struck out a career-high 112 times in 2015, but played 158 games, which was the most of his career.
The Twins could use a strikeout pitcher near the top of their rotation, but outside of a trade it is tough to envision the team spending that type of money to fill the void.
It’s hard to envision the Twins at this point remaining contenders for the division, but no one thought they would do as well in 2015, so who can really say how they’ll do at this point.
Detroit Tigers
The Tigers continue to tinker to improve their roster and fill some holes after making their key free agent signing of starter Jordan Zimmerman to help them plug the gap left by last season’s trade of David Price.
Tribe fans will note that the Tigers signed utility guy Mike Aviles, whose option for 2016 was not picked up by the Indians. Aviles should help as a cheap player who can play a wide range of positions. But the question is whether he can still hit after a disappointing 2015 campaign.
The Tigers also picked up some bullpen help by trading for Justin Wilson from the Yankees and signing free agent Mark Lowe. Adding a little bit of starting pitching depth was achieved with the free agent signing of starter Mike Pelfry, who was 6-11 with a 4.26 ERA in 30 starts and 164.2 innings for the Twins in 2015. When the Tigers have a lineup that includes a healthy Miguel Cabrera, it is the pitching depth that will once again determine whether the Tigers are pretenders or contenders.
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